WLAN 802.11ad/WiGig/WiHD Test and Design

IEEE 802.11ad is an amendment to the 802.11 WLAN standard which enables up to 7 Gbps data rates in the unlicensed and globally available 60 GHz band. With much more spectrum available than the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, the 60 GHz band has wider channels, enabling higher data rates over short distances (1m – 10m). Primary 802.11ad applications will be to remove wires between High-Definition multimedia, computer displays, I/O and peripheral, peer to peer data synchronization and higher speed LAN.

A shared MAC layer with existing 802.11 networks enables session switching between 802.11 networks operating in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 60 GHz bands, resulting in uninterrupted wireless data communications. The 802.11ad MAC layer has been extended to include beamforming support and address the 60 GHz specific aspects of channel access, synchronization, association, and authentication.

The design and integration of 802.11ad devices present challenges in tackling 10 times higher frequencies and 100 times wider modulation bandwidths than previous WLAN standards. A mix of modulation technologies (both Single Carrier and OFDM) and the use of active directional antennae further complicate matters.

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Microwave & RF article, April 2013. The goal is for all IEEE 802.11 standards to be backward compatible and for 802.11ac and 802.11ad to be compatible at the medium-access-control (MAC) or data-link layer. They should differ only in physical-layer (PHY) characteristics. Read about how that goal is being attained.

This application note describes a new comms standard based on OFDM which is provided by SystemVue 2011 to create both simulation and measurement, with links to the new 89600B VSA software for further demodulation and analysis.